|
|
Super Rail Band de Bamako
Kongo Sigui ( Indigo/Label Bleu)
"The first soundtrack to summer 2003 just arrived" says Ian Anderson in fRoots. Indeed! A super new recording by one of the best of the west African guitar band movement, this is a welcome addition to the pack.
Just Listen!
Mogo...
Balla Moussa Keita
Sory
Kongo Sigui
|
|
More music from the Rail Band
|
From the pages of fRoots This completes the set. Following on from last year's comeback albums by Bembeya Jazz and Orchestra Baobab, here's the magnificent new one from the other outfit in the holy trinity of guitar-led West African bands, the one which never went away. This is the new privatised super-streamlined Rail Band, finally emigrated from their old run-down residency at the Buffet Hotel De La Gare to Bamako's altogether trendier Djembe Club. In the process they've dropped the brass section, picked up a younger audience, and now delivered a blinding new album just in time for their UK dates with Bembeya in July. Bliss! Apart from being hornless, the other big difference between this revitalised Rail Band and either Baobab or Bembeya is the absence of that strong Cuban/ Latin thread, which seems to give them an interesting current-but-timeless edge. Here, the accent is on high-octane Manding swing, fiery guitar solos from the unstoppable Djelimady Tounkara (see fR217 for Banning Eyre's epic feature), pure griot-style singing, and lyrical themes out of deep Malian folklore, history and contemporary social culture. And it's extraordinarily tight, the rhythm section (two percussionists, Maguet Diop's drums, Fotigui Keita's bass) seemingly effortless in their magic, and Moussa Diabate's second guitar creating a shimmering, burbling foundation for Djelimady's continually jaw-dropping fretboard excursions. Vocally they're strong again too - they may not have a Salif Keita or Mory Kante, but Damory Kouyate and Samba Sissoko are fine successors, now with strong female harmony support including Djelimady's daughter Mariam. The accent is on the hot stuff - few hotter than the driving Dakan which appropriately points out that "you can improve your destiny"- but the album is perfectly paced with some slower interludes too. Kongo Sigui itself is a lengthy slow burner on a theme of Mali's hunters, Sory is a beautiful acoustic track with Ballake Sissoko on kora, and Tunga is a variant on a theme you might know better in other hands as Maniamba. At only 45 minutes it scarcely feels generous in playing time, but there's no excess fat on this one, no filler moments. Just hit the repeat button and send it around again. The first soundtrack to summer 2003 just arrived. - Ian Anderson, fRoots |
|
|
|
|
Please note!
Most CDs have been
imported from Europe or Asia.
They are not all
shrink-wrapped, and I am not
going to con you by wrapping them
here just to make you think they
have been sterilized in America.
We guarantee that the CDs and the
contents are all brand new and in
perfect condition. Whenever I
can, I use recycled shipping
materials. They may not look as
pretty on the outside, but they save
money and keep the trash dumps a
little bit emptier.
|